


Lay Low

by anyonesghost



Category: Spector
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-09
Updated: 2013-05-09
Packaged: 2017-12-10 21:36:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/790417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anyonesghost/pseuds/anyonesghost
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>a short story about Chris' and Fred's love</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lay Low

**Author's Note:**

> I'd posted this story on tumblr but since Chris himself is following me now I can't do that anymore, now can I  
> also, Fred has been made aware of another fic of mine and I don't want to risk anything, even though he said it's fine with him
> 
> as to the work, the "jump" style is very much inspired by Chuck Palahniuk's Invisible Monsters which I was reading at the time  
> the last line is a reference to what Carl Barat said about/to Pete Doherty in an interview (also to be found in Pete's Books of Albion)

With a groan he tosses and turns around in bed for what feels like the 500th time. He can’t fall asleep. Again.  
Who can blame him, he’s used to having a warm body beside him all night. But no, Fred has decided to spontaneously visit his cousins in freaking New York and at such short notice there was only one flight ticket available. It was okay for Chris, he didn’t feel like going to America anyway, but well, he didn’t want Fred to leave either, even if it was only for a week.  
Chris decides he’s had enough of self pity in the middle of the night so he gets up, grabs a guitar and starts to invent little new melodies. It successfully distracts him for a while until the melodies turn sad. Finally, Chris puts the guitar aside and goes to the small kitchen of their apartment. He shivers when a cold wind comes from the tilted window and rushes over his naked torso. Instantly he wishes Fred was here to wrap his strong arms around him. Chris sighs and runs a hand through his blond hair. He’d have to wait till Sunday. 

Sometimes Chris could punch himself for his own stupidity. He knew Fred is an anxious soul and partly it was Chris’ fault. How could he have let it come to this? Fred would never trust him again, let alone stay with him. But Chris, Chris is the type that falls for someone and wants to marry that someone despite or rather with all their flaws.  
He knows he can’t marry Fred. Laws aside, Fred would break his heart eventually and Chris is very well aware of this. That’s why he wants to enjoy his time with Fred as much as possible. But how is he supposed to do this when Fred went to America?!  
Frustrated, Chris pulls at his own hair, close to tears. From the corner of his eye he sees his mobile on the kitchen table. The up lightened display has called his attention. With two large steps he reaches and unlocks it. It’s a message from Fred. With shaking fingers he opens it. It includes nothing but a photograph, a fairly bad one, of Fred blowing a kiss towards the camera, holding a glass of champagne, some confetti tangled in his hair. With a stupid smile on his face Chris quickly types a reply: I miss you.  
The next text takes a few minutes to arrive and these few minutes nearly drive Chris crazy: True romantics sleep alone.  
What’s he to say to that? He lets himself sink down with his back pressed against the wall.  
With a sudden anger dwelling up inside him, he throws the device against the wall where it scatters into pieces.  
“Shit!”, he swears silently before jumping to his feet and walking over to see if he can actually get it back to working. Of course he doesn’t, it’s plain straight ruined.  
Chris tries really hard to keep all the frustration from overwhelming him but he can’t anymore. A sob escapes his mouth and it sounds even louder in the silence that was never present in London, just in their flat.  
That’s how he falls asleep, finally. On the kitchen floor, crying himself to sleep.

Jump to how they became friends, only two weeks after secondary school has started.  
“Look at you, Fred! Your glasses are so fugly!”, the boys scream and run away because they are scared a teacher has heard them. That’s how these bullies are. Big mouth but no balls. It’s not as if Fred cares anyway. He just goes on reading, or rather, he pretends to. His full attention is on the boy that suddenly sits next to him.  
“Your glasses are not fugly”, Chris tells him with a shy smile.  
“I know about that.”  
“Yeah…”, Chris drifts off for a moment.  
“They’re actually pretty cool!”  
That’s when Fred looks up from his book for the first time. He blinks a few times because he’s just so surprised by the blue eyes he all of a sudden finds looking at him.  
“Thanks”, he mumbles, still mesmerized by Chris’ piercing eye colour.  
“Hey, you wanna sit next to each other during lunch?”, Chris casually asks, still with a smile on his lips.  
Fred hastily clears his throat and goes, “Sure”.

Jump to the airport. It’s Sunday and despite the hour - it’s 6 o’clock in the morning - there’s surprisingly much going on. Chris is waiting for Fred’s plane to arrive. Even though he is an hour early, he swirls around whenever he thinks he has seen someone with these distinctive glasses of Fred’s.  
When the voice from the speaker finally announces the arrival of the plane, Chris has almost fallen asleep in his seat in the waiting hall. However, he goes back to being wide awake within a second, he’s used to it by now since he has barely slept this past week.  
“Remember, Chris, you are whoever he needs you to be”, he murmurs to himself while standing up and straightening his suit.  
Then he finally sees Fred who, as soon as he sees Chris too, walks faster, a grin playing with his plump lips.  
“There you are”, Chris greets him.  
“Hi”, the respond comes with a gentle kiss. Immediately, Chris forgets all his worries, they vanish from his mind and body, he feels like flying. Of course he doesn’t mention any of what has happened, he leaves Fred under the impression he has been perfectly fine without him, he just has been missing him now and then.  
Holding hands like the lovebirds they were that moment, they go home.

Jump to their first kiss. They’re 16 by now and on a party, enjoying themselves. Since they don’t know many people they stick with each other. They’ve been sitting on a couch sipping their beers for a while now when “Last Nite” by the Strokes comes on. Fred jumps to his feet and stretches a hand out for Chris. With a confused frown, Chris gets up too and momentarily gets pulled onto the dance floor by his best friend. Firstly, he feels out of place but when he sees how much fun Fred has he decides to just go with the crowd and dance the best he can.  
The next song is a slow one and for a second Chris’ face gets all hot because he doesn’t know what to do but when Fred appears back on his side they only need to share a look to know it’s time to leave the dance floor.  
Before they walk back to the couch they get a beer and suddenly Fred’s hand is on Chris’ underarm.  
“Actually, I could use a fag, you wanna stay inside or..?”  
“Nah, I’ll just come with you”, Chris replies with a smile.  
He’s a non-smoker but he doesn’t have a problem with his friend smoking and he could use some cool air anyway.  
Together they pull the balcony door open and are surprised when they find no one else outside. With a shrug Fred lights his cigarette and inhales deeply. Fascinated, Chris watches the smoke, taking a sip from his beer from time to time. They don’t talk but it’s a comfortable silence.  
When Fred walks over to the balustrade to flip the cigarette onto the street he trips over a floor deal and stumbles against Chris’ chest.  
“Hey, you okay?”, Chris grabs the other one’s arms to support him.  
“Yeah”, Fred mumbles against his friend’s shirt and starts giggling the next second.  
Chris is confused and doesn’t know what to do so he just waits, waits until Fred’s little fit is over. When it is, Fred gets a hold of Chris’ shirt, looks up in his best friend’s face and pulls it down to press their lips together. They stay like this for a short while, neither of them sure what the next move is. When they finally part Fred takes a step backwards, not sure if he should feel embarrassed about his actions.  
“This was nice”, Chris states, his eyes wide open.  
“Yeah”, Fred agrees and scratches the back of his head.  
“You wanna continue-“  
Fred’s simple answer is another kiss.

Jump to Fred being in love with Chris throughout their teenage years but never telling his best friend.

Jump to when Chris tells Fred about his first girlfriend and Fred doesn’t speak to his best friend for a week.

Jump to their first real argument, only a few days after Fred’s return from America. He has been talking about his amazing time in New York all the time, casually mentioning one or another girl. Well, as not differently expected these were the sentences that particularly called Chris’ attention. However, he is not jealous. Rather disappointed. When he confronts Fred about this, the other man accuses him of a lack of trust. 

Jump to Chris’ wedding. Fred is his best man.

Jump to Fred getting lost in London’s underground scene, drugs being his constant companion.

Jump to Chris’ divorce. He calls Fred the second everything is over but the number no longer exists.

Jump to them randomly bumping into each other on London’s streets.

Jump to Fred pushing Chris back onto their bed, the younger man following shortly after, crawling into Chris’ lap, kissing him passionately. While both of them are busy to get the other one undressed a few buttons may have come loose.  
“I can’t stand it when you’re gone”, Chris confesses in between kisses.  
Fred stops in his tracks. He sighs when he realises they have to talk about it when they want to get over it. He gets off Chris and sits next to him on the bed.  
“Look, the reason I did it is ‘cause I wanted to test us”, he tells his lover.  
“Test how long we can make it without each other? But why? You know we can’t make it for long!”, Chris just doesn’t understand.  
“Because… Because I want you to suffer”, Fred hides his face in his hands and sighs.  
Chris doesn’t know what to say. He wraps his arms around his love because what he just heard makes him so unbelievably sad. Sad, because he had let it come to this.  
“I love you”, he mumbles and presses a kiss on Fred’s hair, “and I’ll love you ‘til my dying day.”


End file.
